Let’s face it… no one ever plans to need a health care lawyer. Most times, these types of expenses are not only incredibly stressful but also a total surprise. So, in the event that something catastrophic happens, how will you afford to pay your health care lawyer?

What are some common types of fee arrangements?

Most health care lawyers work on what’s called a “contingency fee.” Basically, what a contingency fee means is that their payment is contingent on winning the settlement or lawsuit. Their fees are they paid out of the settlement money, usually as a percentage of the total. That percentage usually ends up being about 33%, or 1/3rd, of the total to the health care lawyer. If the trial ends in a loss, the lawyer does not receive any money. One thing to consider is who is required to pay the costs of the litigation itself, which can be quite significant. These costs include any expert witnesses needed, as well as the fees of the actual court time itself. In the majority of cases, these fees are taken care of by the health care lawyer, at least at initial onset of the case. Should the case be successful, the health care lawyer may request to also be reimbursed for a portion or all of those costs out of the settlement. Make sure you confirm before hiring a health care lawyer so that there are no surprises at the end of the trial.

What should I consider?

Make sure that you remember that all health care lawyer’s fees are, to some degree, negotiable. Shop around before committing. Get reviews from any friends or family member’s that may have gone through similar situations. Also remember that most health care lawyers will do free initial consultations so don’t feel bad about going in, sitting down, getting a general feel for him or her and thinking on it before signing anything.

Be aware of legal considerations

Recent legislative efforts have sought to restrict the amount of lawsuits that health care lawyers can bring. The concern is that increased lawsuits may actually increase the cost of healthcare as a whole. Before deciding whether or not to bring a lawsuit, consider the laws and statutes in your state. Ask your potential health care lawyer about them as well – they should be up to date on any laws and changes that may affect you and your case to avoid potential fines or worthless lawsuits. Additionally, some states put caps on the percentage that a health care lawyer can ask for from an potential payout. These limitations are non-negotiable, while legal fees are.

If you need to hire a health care lawyer, there are a few considerations to keep in mind to make sure you are following the letter of the law and aren’t being taken advantage of. Health care lawyers mostly work on contingency, so don’t be afraid to shop around and negotiate fees prior to hiring them.

Most people never dream of finding a health care lawyer when they have been mistreated by their doctor or health care professional. It does seem a little odd because most of us trust our doctors and the people who look after us in our time of need. Unfortunately there are a few professionals who are only in this profession for money. Many doctors who aren’t honest try to defraud you out of money and it’s serious to say the least which is why an attorney is needed.

Mistreatment or Fraud On The Part Of the Insurer Is Serious

What happens when you’ve been mistreated by a doctor? What if they charge you or your insurance company for something that hasn’t been performed? That is fraud and while it might seem as though it’s just a few hundred dollars, it can all add up. You really cannot afford to be the victim of mistreatment or even a fraud by the doctor. For this reason, you are going to require the services of a health care professional. A health care fraud attorney will fight for your corner and will absolutely ensure you are treated fairly. This is so important and finding a great lawyer to help shouldn’t be too troublesome.

You Don’t Have To Be Left Out-Of-Pocket

If you have been a victim of a fraud by your doctor or the doctor or indeed the insurance company has mistreated you in some way, it’s necessary to ensure you get fair compensation. However it isn’t just about money but rather getting fair justice as well. This is so important and too many frauds go unpunished by medical professionals. With a good health care lawyer you know your case is going to be taken with utmost care and attention. This is certainly something that is important to thousands and it’ll make all the difference to families as well. Know why !

Finding the Best Health Care Lawyer Is Necessary

When it comes to finding a good lawyer, you have to approach this smartly. You not only have to look at the reputation of the lawyer but how long they have been practicing in this area. If the attorney or lawyer has many years of experience, that is a real advantage as it means they are well adverse in this area of law. Also, you know they are going to be honest with your chances of winning the case. If there isn’t a high probability you’ll win, you will be told about that. In truth is your case may depend on the lawyer you choose. If you don’t find an honest or trustworthy professional then you may be stuck with someone who isn’t experienced enough to take your case. A health care fraud attorney must always have excellent experience to deal with your case.

Get Someone on Your Side

You never know what could happen when facing a lawsuit, whether you are bringing on a health care professional or you are the one being sued. That is why you absolutely must find a professional who can help you. Choosing a health care attorney is really quite necessary in today’s world and they know how to handle these cases extremely well. They know the law and will be able to do the things you can’t. A health care lawyer is a useful professional and they can help you too, check here: http://federal-lawyer.com/healthcare-defense/…

Although of fairly-recent origin, lawsuit loans and settlement loans are becoming more widely known. Individuals are relying on various forms of lawsuit funding to assist them in being able to continue litigation against those who cause them harm through health care fraud. In the vast majority of instances, litigation funding can be extremely valuable to individuals who file legitimate claims.

However, for those individuals who are intent on health care fraud, you should be aware of the fact that incorporating various forms of litigation funding will give a second pair of eyes to this situation that may be unwanted!

I realize that it appears incongruous to suspect that there is some logical consistency in what I’ve stated. However, please note that all lawsuits require various levels of scrutiny prior to getting to the final process. If a lawsuit is filed against health care fraud, this typically means that the underlying negotiations have failed. This isn’t always the case. Why? Because some attorneys opted to file a lawsuit as soon as a client comes to them.

When individuals seek lawsuit loans and settlement loans, they are advised to work with brokers who will attempt to connect them with litigation funding agencies that are best-suited to accommodate their needs. Additionally, various jurisdictions limit the types of funding that may be advanced and brokers can be tremendously valuable to applicants.

When applications are filed, many of these funding agencies work closely with health care lawyers and underwriters who have a great deal of experience in reviewing such matters. If fraudulent activity is suspected on a particular file, this may trigger the need to report concerns to law enforcement. Remember, there is no attorney-client privilege in documents being submitted. Therefore, you should be cognizant of the need to reserve this form of funding for those cases that are legitimate.Learn more detailed updates at http://www.seventhcircuitcases.com/dont-fall-victim-to-health-insurance-fraud-3-ways-to-protect-yourself/

Fortunately, the vast majority of cases that are filed are pristine. However, for myriad reasons, some individuals will attempt to take unfair advantage of a defendant through health care fraud. Illustrative of this is the case in which a plaintiff’s car may have only a tiny scratch on it and yet submit bills for tens of thousands of dollars. (Yes, severe injuries can occur in minor incidents. However, they are the exception rather than the rule.)

Keep in mind, lawsuit loans and settlement loans were created in an effort to even the playing field. Plaintiffs customarily must do battle with insurance carriers and their health care lawyer. It isn’t simply a matter of plaintiff versus defendant. In those cases in which no insurance is involved, many individuals find that it’s not even worth their while to pursue compensation for harm they sustained.

The vast majority of cases that we see arise from car accidents. Most states require insurance coverage – by law. Failure to maintain this insurance while operating a vehicle can constitute a crime in most states. Therefore, the vast majority of cases involving car accidents will have a component in which a plaintiff must deal with both the defendant and the defendant’s insurance carrier. Remember, when you deal with an insurance carrier, you are often dealing with very experienced insurance defense attorneys who focus their attention solely on representing insurance companies. (It is true that defense attorneys state that they represent the defendant, not the insurance carrier. However, this is absolute fiction.)

Those in need of lawsuit loans and settlement loans should pursue them with the assistance of a broker. Make certain, however, that your claim is legitimate and you are not causing health care fraud. If you are attempting to perpetrate a fraud, in addition to being advised not to perpetrate the fraud in the first place, you certainly create double-trouble for yourself if you submit these claims to lawsuit funding agencies. If you in any doubt contact a health care lawyer today.…

The United States Attorney in Boston recently announced the settlement of a health care fraud case involving five urologists and TAP Pharmaceutical Products, Inc., a major American pharmaceutical manufacturer. The government alleged that the urologists received illegal inducements from TAP to prescribe the drug Lupron in the 1990s. The physicians pleaded guilty to health care fraud, and TAP agreed to pay $875 million to settle allegations of fraudulent drug pricing and marketing of Lupron.Visit my latest blog posted at http://www.seventhcircuitcases.com/dont-fall-victim-to-health-insurance-fraud-3-ways-to-protect-yourself/

TAP markets Lupron for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The U.S. Attorney initiated an investigation into TAP’s pricing and marketing of Lupron in 1997, after a urologist employed by an HMO reported to law-enforcement authorities that he was offered an educational grant to reverse a decision he had made on behalf of the HMO to exclude coverage for Lupron.

To induce physicians to prescribe Lupron instead of a cheaper alternative, TAP gave physicians free samples of the drug, worth as much as $40,000, as a form of volume discount. The average cost of a monthly dose of Lupron was $400 to $600. Because Lupron must be injected under the supervision of a physician, Medicare, which normally does not reimburse for medication, reimbursed physicians 80% of their administration cost. The remaining 20% was reimbursed by the patient as co-pay. TAP fully intended and expected the physicians to prescribe the free Lupron to their patients and then bill the patients and their insurers the average wholesale price of the drug. That is precisely what the physicians did.

As a further incentive to encourage physicians to prescribe Lupron, TAP offered them free consulting services, free trips to golf and ski resorts, and money disguised as “educational grants,” that the physicians used to pay for cocktail parties, office Christmas parties, medical equipment, and travel expenses. The Government described these items as kickbacks and bribes used to influence the physicians to prescribe Lupron.

The TAP case is likely to have a significant impact on the marketing practices of not only pharmaceutical companies, but on all health care vendors. For physicians, the message should be loud and clear.

First, physicians need to carefully examine some of the perks they are used to receiving from health care product and service vendors.

The Federal government cited as illegal inducements many of the marketing practices typically utilized by pharmaceutical companies and other health care vendors, including: free products, free consulting services, trips to golf and ski resorts and money purportedly for “educational grants” but used for other purposes. Thus, physicians who accept free services, free products, or money from vendors risk criminal charges and civil liability.

It is known as health care fraud and therefore a felony under the Medicare-Medicaid Anti-kickback statute (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7b) to receive or solicit payment in exchange for ordering an item, such as a prescription drug, reimbursable by Medicare or Medicaid. This statute was expanded to apply to all federal health care programs under the Health Care Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

In terms of civil liability, physicians who knowingly submit false claims for reimbursement by the federal government can incur civil penalties of up to $10,000 per claim, plus treble damages, under the Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729-3732). At $10,000 per claim, civil monetary penalties often reach millions of dollars. For example, TAP’s $875 million penalty included over $559 million to settle its federal civil False Claims Act liability in the Lupron case.

Second, physicians need to realize that the Government is paying close attention to their interactions with manufacturers and vendors of health care products and services. The TAP case highlights the government’s increased vigilance in investigating and prosecuting violations of the fraud and abuse statutes. In a six-month period (April through September 2001), the Government recouped more than $1.22 billion through both Civil Monetary Penalty Law and False Claims Act civil settlements. Physicians should stay tuned to further developments in this area. If you are in any doubts, contact a health care lawyer today.…

Cheap health insurance plans have been developed so that a person who has no coverage by their employer can find insurance coverage on their own. These low cost health insurance policies can also be very beneficial to someone who has left a 9-to-5 job to go into business on their own. Often the low cost of these policies allow for savings to put toward other forms of expense.

Sometimes, an inexpensive health care plan is designed to target retirees and elderly people who can’t negotiate the rate a large business could. Whatever your situation is, whenever you are considering a new health insurance policy you should do your homework ahead of time, so that you don’t regret it later.

What are the three ways you can be caught in the scam of health care fraud?

1. Be wary of insurance agents who try to sign you up quickly because they offer you a “special deal.” Typically these are the insurance providers who will pay for a small premium amount and lesser medical claims. However, they could vanish overnight if a more expensive claim has been filed or if regulators begin to scrutinize their behavior.

How would you know if health care fraud is a risk with your insurance company? If it is a smaller and lesser known insurance company and if you have been getting your claim delayed and they have been making excuses and not making payments. In this case it is in your best interest to go to the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General’s office. If you are a small business owner you should be very careful about choosing an insurance company that is not familiar to you as you could wind up being liable for the unpaid medical bills your employees generate.

2. Secondly, be careful to make sure the health insurance plan you’ve signed up for is licensed by the state insurance commissioner. Your state insurance commission regulates legitimate insurance companies operating within your state. If a health plan isn’t listed with them then a company is more than likely fake and could lead to health care fraud.For more information, visit their official website.

3. Insurance scams operate by offering policies that appear very attractive and hard to resist when first presented. If you find yourself being tempted by an unusual amount of coverage that doesn’t seem to be in line with the other plans you consider, it’s time to do your homework and dig deeper before signing anything or committing yourself. Illegitimate insurance providers try to make an offer irresistible; once they have sold a large number of policies they disappear, taking your money with them.

If you wonder if it’s possible in this day and age for companies like this to exist, watch the John Grisham legal thriller “The Rainmaker.” Keep in mind, where there is a dollar to be made people are going to try to make it, even if it means taking advantage of somebody in a deceitful and sleazy way.

Click here to find out more information about health care fraud and don’t be a victim on it or contact a health care lawyer today.…